Oct, 4: Enjoy a beer while your train chugs along

Sipping a beer when you're riding the rails. Sound like a fun combination?

That's what the New Hope Valley Railroad plans to do Oct. 4. From 4 to 9 p.m. that Saturday, the excursion train based in Bonsal  -- a half-hour south of Raleigh, between Raleigh and Sanford -- is staging a fundraiser called  Brew 'n' Chew.

It works like this: You buy your ticket to ride their steam train ($14) or diesel train ($12). At the rail yard, there are samplings and, for an additional $5 per pint, craft beer from Cary-based Fortnight Brewing. Beer will not be sold aboard the train, but you're welcome to bring your purchased pint aboard.

The one-hour roundtrip train rides depart at 5 and 7:30 p.m. (steam) and 6:15 and 8:45 p.m. (diesel).

Chatham Hill Winery will similarly be offering tastings as well as selling wine by the glass.

Manna Concessions will be selling special-menu foods, like fried pimento cheese sliders, shrimp po'boy sandwiches, barbecue pork sandwiches, etc. Sweets will be sold by LadyBug's Treats, a Raleigh-based mobile food-truck operation.

Food -- which includes a side and a non-alcoholic beverage -- can be ordered in advance to reduce your wait time at the food trucks there.Cost: $9.50 to $11.50.

There will be live bluegrass and folk music.

The event is a benefit for NHVR, an all-volunteer enterprise staffed by train fans. Money raised at the event will support restoration of the historic  Cliffside 110 steam engine, which is expected to cost between $350,000 and $600,000.

Information and reservations: Go to the NHVR website.

From Charlotte, Bonsal is a 2 1/2 drive: I-85 North to U.S. 421 (in the High Point area); take U.S. 421 South to U.S. 64, at Siler City. Follow U.S. 64 East; cross Jordan Lake and make a right onto Beavr Creek Road, then a left onto Daisey Street  to Bonsal Street.